Way back in the day, Little Nut Huts could be found at most neighborhood taverns around Peoria. Then about a decade ago they slowly started vanishing. They used to be serviced by a company out of Galesburg, but sometime in 2014, they stopped that part of the business and taverns that had a Little Nut Hut had the option of buying the miniature nut house and maintaining it themselves or having the company pick it up and take it away to The Little Nut House graveyard.
One of my favorite Little Nut Huts disappeared from Mike’s Tavern because of this and you can read about that in this story by Phil Luciano and please take note of the photographer for the story. You don’t just walk in off of the street and take photos for the PJ Star. Nope you can just stay home and email it to them these days!
Anyway, I’ve been meaning to do a little tour spotlighting the three remaining Little Nut Huts in Peoria and so here we go on this nutty tour. If you like your nuts nice and warm, you’re going to really enjoy this salty adventure!
Little Nut Hut Stop Number One: The Red Barn
Obligatory Bar Photos
Here’s a few pre-Nut Hut bar photos, if you want to see more check out this post from our last coney dog party we had here last month.
Their Little Nut Hut
Veteran Bartender Randy told me that this Little Nut Hut has been here as long as he’s been here and he’s been tending bar here for over 30 years, so this is a true vintage Little Nut Hut. I love the tag line on it that says, “We’ll Warm Your Nuts.” That’s a funny line, but the one thing that bugs me about this Little Nut Hut is their spelling of it. They add an extra “t” at the end of both nut and hut and that really bothers me. I hate it when companies think that adding an extra letter at the end of a word makes it somehow more special. Hucks does this with their stupid “Bigg Swigg” drinks and I hate the Bigg Swigg drinks. I loathe the spelling of those stupid fucking drinks and I hate the drinks themselves. They have the standard, small, medium, large and extra large drinks and they also have 64 and 100 ounce traveling mugs available. Who the fuck needs that much of a sugary soft drink? I’ve seen assholes standing in line with these giganzo mugs of soda and they usually have an ass the size of an industrial dumpster and appear to be on the verge of seven heart attacks. Bigg Swigg? Fuckk Youu! Anyway, I’m not fond of the spelling on this Little Nut Hut. Sheesh!
The Nuts
Little Nut Huts always have cashews on one side and mixed nuts on the other. I’m a firm believer that if you’re going to properly sample the nuts, you should get an order from both sides. The nuts from the Red Barn’s Little Nut Hut were nice and warm and fresh and salty.
Nutty Rating
Three and a half Mr. Peanuts (out of four.)—The nuts are nice and warm and tasty, but they lose a half a point for the stupid spelling and the fact that when I see that I have to think about those goddamned Bigg Swigg drinks. Fuck!
Little Nut Hut Stop Number Two: The Last Hurrah
Obligatory Bar Photos
For this stop of the tour, I was joined by my friends Amber and Joe and that’s us in the last photo. To see more of the three of us in here, click on this link.
TheIR Little Nut Hut
This is the classic Little Nut Hut. The red roof and white body with the nuts in the middle section of the hut. And there’s no extra consonants or vowels which is a great relief!
The Nuts
Here's Amy serving up two cups of nuts! They have a little different option here, there’s cashews on one side and peanuts on the other. Usually it’s mixed nuts and I kind of like the mixed nuts option a little better because you get more of a variety. Also these nuts weren’t very warm.
Nutty Rating
Three Mr. Peanuts—I love the classic Little Nut Hut, but they lose a point for not being very warm and not having a mixed nuts option. The more nuts the merrier!
Little Nut Hut Stop Number Three: Earp’s Hideaway
Obligatory Bar Photos
Earp’s is definitely one of the oldest bars in Peoria, if not the oldest. That’s Earp’s owner, Jimmy Earp in the bottom photo with the bartender on duty for the day. Jimmy told me that this building has been here since the 1800’s. You can see more photos from this post way back in March of 2013, over five years ago!
Their Little Nut Hut
This Little Nut Hut doesn’t have any signage at the top, but it does have the cashews and mixed nuts marked prominently. It’s a no frills, old school LIttle Nut Hut and I love it!
The Nuts
The nuts are nice and warm with just the right amount of salt. And they’re served up in traditional paper cups! This is truly like stepping back in time and a nutty and warm experience.
Nutty Rating
Four Mr. Peanuts—I love the old school charm of their Little Nut Hut and they serve up the nuts nice and warm! Thanks to all three of these fine establishments for keeping the LIttle Nut Hut alive and well.
And while doing research for this, I found out that there’s a website for the LIttle Nut Hut and you can buy one of your own from them. They have a 309 area code, so I need to find out what this is all about! Could there be a Little Nut Hut operation right here in Peoria? Stay tuned yo see what I find out and we’ll see you all tomorrow!
Related Posts: Two Beers and Some Nuts From The Nut @ Mike’s Tavern and Draining The Little Nut Hut At The Red Barn.
Surprise link...click on it, I dare you!
----------------
Bonus Leg-Drained Photos - Warning, These Are Graphic and Gross!
Here’s photos after they drained it, the doctor and nurse did a great job and it wasn’t that painful. They basically took a river of pus out of there, it was really crazy seeing all that stuff being pulled out of my leg. Then they packed it and bandaged it up.
This is the leg about two hours later when I’m going to change the bandage.
Extreme close-up! That’s the hole in my leg that’s stuffed with packing. I get to pull that out in the morning and I can’t wait!
This Morning, Unpacking The Wound
Morning has broken (all over my head) and it’s time to unpack the wound! I’ve been looking forward to this and here we go. Wow, it kind of felt like pulling a mile of snot out of your nose! There’s the hole that emptied about a pound of pus out of my leg yesterday. Okay time to shower and clean it up.
And here’s the leg after the shower. Look at the hole in my leg, it kind of looks like a scabby smile! Thanks to everyone for the nice thoughts and wishes throughout this whole ordeal, hopefully this is the beginning of the end of the Mexican spider leg saga!